Researcher, Musician, Educator

Upward Mobility

To see a clear demarcation of the social classes in American society, one need look no further than the boarding process on US Airways.

First, the announcement: “We are ready to begin boarding the aircraft by zone.” Then they immediately begin to board the aircraft by caste.

First, military personel.

Second, “first” class.

Third, Dividend Miles Preferred members

Fourth, Star Alliance Silver, Gold, and Platinum members.

Fifth, US Airways Premier World MasterCard® holders and US Airways® Visa Signature® card holders are invited to board via the Priority Access line, while Zones 1 and 2 (consisting of Bulkhead seats, exit row seats, and ChoiceSeats) boards via the “coach class” lane. Passenger is the Priority Access line are encouraged to cut in front of the rabble in the coach line. To be perfectly clear, Zones 1-2 have nothing to do with actual physical region of the plane.

Finally, Zones 3 – 5. “Does anyone want to gate check a roller bag?” they ask. “If you’re in Zones 3 to 5, you’ll probably have to do it anyways.”

One Comment

This is one reason I love flying Southwest. They make it very clear how seating works: first to buy your ticket, first to pick your own seat. For an extra $10, you can get yourself bumped forward in the queue. So it’s still classist, but $10 isn’t as crazy as “patricians and centurions first.”